1 20 1 https://declassified.library.utoronto.ca/files/original/7e29f8e3e33e8d379092c7266daf8e7c.pdf ccedd7b08457a5b1a3f9c83494abd146 PDF Text Text Document disclosed underthe Access to Information Act Document divulgue en vertu de la Loisur l'acces a rinformation DEPARTMENT OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS, CANADA A OUTGOING MESSAGE TOR/TOD COMMUNICATIONS 4HnR59 20 162 Lth FM: p SECRET March 19 5 9 CA^MnEMBASSY W^GTON WISER. NUMBER W/SER #-68 : EXTERNAL OTT TO: SECURITY FILE DATE 6? qdie9, VRRE EDENCE COMCENTRE USE ONLY DOWNGRADEDTOSECRET REBUIT A SECRET—— " Xs() T INFO: FEB 2 1 1985 Ref.: Our Wiser 67, March 3, 1959 Subject: SAC Overflights Department of Defence today briefed Chairman of Joint Staff on the nature of the exercises to be carried out in March, April and May for which permission to overfly Canada has been.requested. Gadl 4 These exercises, known as Head Start 2, are a continuation of operational trials carried out last fall to determine the practicality, technical difficulties and financial costs of maintaining a larger proportion of SAC aircraft in a ww) state of airborne alert. An aircraft on airborne alert will be flying G Gai a training mission, will carry an operational weapon and will be routed the che ge over the northern half of/North American Continent, and will be refuelline. D&: re. <lly so ao ts co (o a k: P duu q c/elut Aolu ex . fremtimeto timo in-ouch a way LhL itean-he nrdered-at nny—time during the flight- topreceed-An operational mission Lu a designaled target-and Uhase.2 The • practical application of this technique retnrn-to-some SAG to a large number of SAC airoplenco involves many alterations to maintenance procedures, operational procedures, crew training and involves as yet unknown increases in costs. LOCAL DISTRIBUTION ORIGINATOR SIG.................................................... NAME AVM Hendrjfe/cmd EXT. 18(REV.12/56) The only way that these factors can be determined and the NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION - return to Miss Douglas for filing DIVISION O. APPROVED BY PHONE SIG.. NAME . 000100 �a Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act Document divulgue en vertu de la Loisurl'acces a information y ‘ 9 DOWNGRADED TO SECRET REBUIT A SECRET 15g 2 1985 (a- goP SECRET WISER 68 practicality of the idea assessed is by such tests. Tests last ll w w ii / fall involved one air base. Head Start 2 this spring involve! A . Bsse 5 - f - " three air bases in the northeast, northwest and the central south Flight paths will be confined to the northern part of of the USA. North America extending no farther east than the west coast of Greenland, nor farther west than the South Aleutian chain and C. They will not differ materially in tracks or in performance in the air from any normal SAC/ training flight of the past. w.D The intensity of effort will commence with eight flights per day from one base taking off at 20-minute intervals and growing to 16 flights per day from one base during the month of May. Flights will originate from that different bases on different days so/the maximum number in any one . / tul . period will be 1o. 1 During one day the 16 flights wifttake place over) northern Quebec and Hudson’s Bay. On another day the flights will . take place over the central USA extending north to the northern boundary of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. On another day they might extend along the west coast to the Aleutians and back from Alaska over northern B.C. A ... This experiment Mil] involve an effort of about ten ‘I.'. thousand hours per month which is no more than 10% of the average flight G. w we) effort maintained by SAC every month the year round. It should be recalled that SAC carry out frequent exercises during the year where in as much as 30% of their force is airborne at one time and this activity has been well established. By comparison the 16 flights ws a over a portion of Canada during/24-hour period e relatively insignificant when viewed against the world-wide activity of the force. t. From the point of view of monitoring which the Soviet Union might do on SAC activity, these particular flights over Canada 000101 �DOWNGRADED TO SECRET Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act Document divulgu en vertu de la Loi surlaccs l rinformation REBUITLS(&12) A SECRET FEB 2 1 1985 ' 3 - TOP SECRET WISER 68 will be no different than any previous flights that have been made and, if it were considered vital, special communication arrangements could be made to reduce the likelihood of these flights being detected. radar. still In no case would they be able to be detected by Soviet One of the complexities of the problem and the many unknowns A &U/ involved, the USAF feels it essential to carry these experiments on schedule otherwise it will delay their plan for orderly improvement ° the operational capability of the Command. J. The Under-Secretary was informed that AVM Hendry’s report would be forwarded in the course of the day, and he is agrees we mi r shw( might defer presentation of the note sent to us in your Wiser Message for accuracy / DL 179, March 2 until it has been checked/in the light of this further information and until you have instructed me to proceed. 000102 � Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CDAC02296 Title A name given to the resource SAC Overflights Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 04-Mar-59 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived RG25-A-3-b, Volume number: 5911, File number: 50195-40, pt 3.3 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource LAC Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Canadian Crown Subject The topic of the resource Overflight Policy Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Canada Declassified Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource en